Entering the third period of Saturday's game, Michigan led Ohio State 2-0 in a must-win game for the B1G regular season championship chase. For a Wolverines team that has not dominated possession to the extent that a team of their talent level should this season, it was a big test to see whether a shorthanded Michigan roster could put the clamps down and dictate play in order to salt a game away against a tournament team. In other words, it would serve as a sneak peak for what the NCAA Tournament could bring in March. If it is, then the Maize & Blue could be in for a nice tournament run, because they put together their best defensive period of the season in the third period, holding OSU to just five shots on goal (none were quality looks), and choking the life out of their arch-rivals. Earlier in the week, I promised that I would analyze how Michigan as able to do this in an in-depth fashion. Today I've followed through on that vow, with a trip to the film room: 

Neutral Zone Forechecks, Revisited 

Back in the summer I published a series of pieces called Hockey Nuts and Bolts, which broke down the strategic elements of the sports and what sort of strategies teams and coaches often employ. One of the concepts I discussed in those pieces was a forecheck system. Today we're going to take another look at neutral zone (NZ) forechecks because they are a key part of how Michigan was able to bury Ohio State on Saturday night. I described NZ Forechecks in that piece like the following: 

NZ forechecks ... are designed to stop the opposition from moving through the middle of the ice and getting to the offensive zone with possession. ... Teams set these up after an opposing breakout, when the opposition is moving through the neutral zone and which NZ forecheck alignment is employed at certain moments depends on situation. 

We noted in that piece that most teams have a base system and then may shift depending on circumstance, which is precisely what Michigan did on Saturday night. Michigan typically runs a base 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck that is mostly pedestrian and is not looking to trap the other team, nor trying to provide heavy pressure. It's there to provide some resistance, while also creating opportunities for takeaways. Schematically, it would look like this: 

What is particularly noteworthy about how Michigan was able to slow down Ohio State is not that they used a 1-2-2 NZ forecheck; that's their base alignment. Rather, it's about how they were able to modify it in a defensive manner in order to rise to the occasion and slow down the Buckeyes. Additionally, Michigan got exceptional discipline from its players to adhere to the system, following it to a tee, positioning themselves in perfect spots on the ice to take away passing lanes, and then displaying good forechecking and defensive habits to inhibit Ohio State's offensive movement, taking away the middle of the ice and winning puck battles on the walls. Let's examine each of these areas. 

Michigan's 3rd Period Forecheck System

The forechecking system Michigan ran with in the third period had the 1-2-2 base but seemed to hinge largely on the degree of pressure that F1 (the first forechecker) was able to generate. If he was able to apply solid pressure and a turnover appeared possible, then F2 would come zooming up to help out, while F3 fell back into something that moderately resembled a 2-3. But if F1 made no progress and the play was breaking out with little resistance, then both F2 and F3 fell all the way back to help create a four-man clump between the center line and the Michigan blue line. 

Thomas Bordeleau was one of Michigan's best forecheckers in the F1 role on Saturday night, and here's an instance where he creates a turnover by himself: 

He puts himself in good position to get a stick on the puck when OSU attempts the ill-advised D-to-D pass. Part of the success is Bordeleau being so deep in the offensive zone thanks to his speed, but he also reads the play exceptionally well and coaxes a bad mistake. As for the system involved here, notice what happens near the start of the clip: Bordeleau heads into the zone while his two wingers, Mark Estapa (MICH#94) and Mackie Samoskevich (MICH#11) stay in their 1-2-2 structure. Estapa can be seen on the blue line on camera while Samoskevich is a little farther back (and off camera), but is at his post as the other forward in the first "2" in the 1-2-2 alignment. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More film breakdown]

Continue to watch Estapa in the play. After Bordeleau gets the takeaway, signaling that a chance has been created, Estapa becomes F2 and zooms up to help out. But Samoskevich (F3) is nowhere to be found, initially falling back into that 2-3 shell I talked about. It is not until Bordeleau and Estapa both go into the corner, shifting the play from a NZ forecheck into a more aggressive OZ forecheck, that Samoskevich will head into the zone (after the clip ends). That's the essence of what Michigan was doing here. Run a 1-2-2 where the pivotal player is F1. If he strikes gold, send him a bit of help (F2) but make sure to still have three bodies back to protect the neutral zone (unless possession is really established, and then F3 heads in). If F1 comes up empty, then you still have four bodies back to clog the NZ. 

That last sentence is what I'm going to show you next. Unlike the preceding clip, where F1 makes headway and forces a turnover, in this clip, there's little progress made by F1 and we can see where the 1-4 NZ clog comes into effect: 

Here F1 is Garrett Van Wyhe (MICH#51), and he's not putting much pressure on the Buckeyes at all. The first pass is made and look at where the other four Wolverines are: 

They're all on the other side of the center line! The sheer number of bodies makes it very difficult to complete that first pass, which goes deep into the zone, and the rest of the clip shows you the other advantage of having a 1-4 NZ clog structure. Not just do you put a ton of bodies right between the blue line and the center line, making it nearly impossible to make a clean pass through nor carry through with possession, but you also have the opponent outnumbered when the puck is dumped into the zone. Because Michigan has four bodies back, they are able to quickly gain possession behind the net despite losing the race to the puck: 

Count 'em up. Five yellow sweaters to three red ones. The zone exit is made easier than it should've been because the OSU defense were in the midst of a change, but even if you've got Buckeye defenders pinching at the point, that's not going to change the fact that Michigan's got five players at the circles or lower, and OSU only has three. Makes it a lot easier to win puck battles and gain possession that way.  

Here's an example of how this compressed 1-4 NZ alignment helps create a quick turnover right at the blue line, as opposed to forcing a dump-in: 

You again see F1 (Luke Morgan, MICH#25) at the offensive blue line and then four Michigan players between the center line and the defensive blue line. Philippe LaPointe (MICH#26) recognizes where the only viable passing option is and jumps on it. Though he doesn't intercept the pass, he inserts himself in a way that makes the pass difficult, and indeed it bounces off the boards and into the possession of Morgan, who has fallen back to provide support. 

Finally, I want to point out how the tenacity of F1 in Michigan's third period on Saturday night was able to make life difficult on the Buckeyes, even when turnovers were not being created. In this clip, Mark Estapa (MICH#94) is F1 for Michigan, while the Wolverines are changing lines: 

Estapa hits the end boards hard, and begins harassing the OSU puck-carrier with tenacious pressure. F2 sees a window and comes down to help, in this case Thomas Bordeleau (MICH#34), pushing the play to the outside. Estapa is not able to force a turnover, but he is able to wear down the Buckeye he's battling with, forcing a lazy pass to OSU #16 in the NZ. At which point, because Estapa is continuing to pursue his man, and because F3 (Mike Pastujov) is back with the defensemen on the other side of the center line, there are no options for Ohio State to move the puck, and the turnover is finally created by that last line of defense. 

This structure of movement in the neutral zone was excellent for Michigan, especially against a team like Ohio State who they have an athletic edge against. F1 and F2 can make a little more havoc with the edge in closing speed, and you can feel comfortable sitting the rest of your players back while still generating a bit of pressure up front. But of course, you can't just let the system do the work. You need good habits and positioning from your players within the system. Which Michigan got. 

Terrific Off-Puck Positioning 

This first clip sees F2/F3 a little bit deeper than usual, but the point is not where the system aligns them, but how Mackie Samoskevich (MICH#11) responds to the situation: 

Dylan Duke chases the puck carrier around behind the OSU net, while Johnny Beecher slides down to apply a bit of pressure. Samoskevich does the right thing by occupying the middle of the ice (you never want to cede the middle of the ice to your opponent). He's then faced with a bit of a conundrum. There's an outlet in front of him in the zone (red circle), as well as a passing option way up ice in the neutral zone (green circle): 

He could clamp down on the player circled in red, to deny the easy option, but it would leave a clear lane up ice. He could also fall back to totally take away the stretch pass, but would be giving a lot of space for the easy outlet to work with. Instead he occupies no-man's land in such a way that he's going to be able to hang with the easy outlet if the pass goes there (especially when Samoskevich is faster than the OSU players on the ice), but he also gives himself the angle to get the stick on a stretch pass. Which he does, taking it away with a good active stick, and then makes the smart heads up play afterwards, throwing it on net and forcing an offensive zone faceoff. That's good off-puck positioning and stickwork for you. 

Here's another example, featuring two separate instances in the same clip: 

First we see a similar play to the one above, where Thomas Bordeleau (MICH#34) has good awareness of his place on the ice and reads the puck-carrier well. He knows the pass is coming to the center of the ice where OSU #71 is breaking behind him. If that pass is completed, it's a 1-on-1 rush with only Blankenburg back. Instead, Bordeleau uses his stick to get in the way and break the pass up.

Michigan chips the puck up the ice, OSU rekindles and tries to move through the NZ again. #24 skates up and look at where the yellow sweaters are: 

Defending the blue line like it's Fort Knox! More importantly, you may notice where they are on the blue line: taking away the middle of the ice. Four Michigan skaters are positioned between the edges of the logo, leaving only room along the boards. And because of astute positioning by Mackie Samoskevich, Ohio State can't even go along the wall, with Samo reading the puck-carrier and getting his stick down to intercept the pass from #24 to #27. And again, after the intercept, the freshman winger does the smart move, which is flipping the puck down the ice. In fact, doing so helps Dylan Duke get a look at the end of the clip, showing how an effectively applied NZ clog structure with good positioning and active sticks can help create counter-punch offensive chances for the defensive team by turning the puck over. 

The last element of the positioning and stick-work I want to touch on is what we just mentioned, the ability of this structure to routinely force opponents to the outsides by taking away the middle of the ice. Watch this play: 

The persistence of Granowicz pushes Ohio State against the wall, and take a look at the prospects for the Buckeyes to get off the wall once Granowicz engages:

Good luck making a pass anywhere with the positioning of those two yellow sweaters in the neutral zone off-the-puck. The only hope is for our OSU player in question to fend off Granowicz and skate along the wall until more space is provided. Which is when he runs into Nick Blankenburg. The advantage of pushing play to the boards is it takes away one of the four directions the opponent can go (and functionally, "backwards" is already mostly taken away). With two players in the NZ taking away all passing ways to the right, and Blankenburg providing a road block at the blue line, this play is dead in the water. Turnover, and Michigan is able to chip it in and go right back to rolling its OZ forecheck again. This was clinical defensive hockey and it happened for about 15 minutes straight. 

The empty net goal was the culmination of these good habits:

Michigan has its 1-2-2 set up with Estapa as F1. He makes a little bit of headway but the help doesn't come because it's 6v5 at this point and the Wolverines are being extra conservative. Bordeleau's positioning pushes the puck along the wall and the play goes into the DZ corner. Estapa puts himself in perfect position between the puck carrier and the passing option, and reads the puck carrier like it's Moby Dick. He then uses an active stick to intercept the pass, turning OSU over again. And once he has possession, Estapa buries it in the empty net. Ballgame. 

If Michigan can continue to stitch together performances like this when they have the lead late in games, they are going to be very difficult to beat, should they get a lead. It was some of the best defensive hockey I can remember under Mel Pearson, and a bit of a throwback to his 2019-20 team, which had very little talent and had to rely heavily on structured, conservative systems to slow the game down. Michigan has moved away from that turtle shell approach as the roster has become flooded with NHL talent in the last two offseasons, but just because they can now skate and score in open ice, doesn't mean they shouldn't have the ability to pull out a NZ forecheck that clogs the neutral zone and grinds the game out. I've been waiting to see it all year, and it was a delight to see it in action this weekend. Hopefully the Wolverines are able to feature it again tomorrow and Saturday against the Fighting Irish.